2003 Kids Count Report: Introduction
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2003 Kids Count Databook, South Carolina ranks 42nd in the well-being of children, regaining our best previous ranking. South Carolina is just behind Georgia, Alaska, North Carolina, and Kentucky, but ahead of Tennessee, West Virginia, Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The 2003 report is encouraging because it signals a return of South Carolina's ranking to its best ever rank of 42nd, improved from 45th place last year, which was our average ranking during the 1990's. The state previously ranked 42nd, 43rd, 46th, 47th and 45th. The major cause of the improvement in our ranking was the welcome decline in deaths of infants and children. Most dramatic was the decline in infant mortality by 76 deaths, decreasing the rate from 10.2 per 1,000 to 8.7, almost reaching our all-time low rate of 8.4 four years earlier.
South Carolina's worst rankings (bottom ten states) are the following:
- Low birth weight (47th)
- Infant mortality (45th)
- Teen births (41st)
South Carolina's better rankings are for the following:
- Single-parent families with children (32nd)
- Child death rate (33rd)
- Idle teens (35th)
- High school dropouts (35th)
- Poverty (36th)
- Children in families without steady employment (36th)
- Teen violent deaths (39th)
It is not necessary for us to accept our ranking in the bottom ten states, a position that has raised concern for the entire decade of national Kids Count data reports.
Our neighbor, North Carolina, is the 39th in the 2000 Kids Count ranking. In order to catch North Carolina and move into 39th place, South Carolina would need to make some significant improvements. The most obvious goal would be to improve our status on the three indicators for which South Carolina is in the bottom ten states: infant mortality, low birthweight, and births to teens. Significant reductions in these problems would enable South Carolina to reach an overall ranking of 39th.
| Indicator | Needed Reduction | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | Per County | Current | Goal | |
| Infant mortality | 53 deaths | 1 death | 45 | 36 |
| Low birthweight births | 782 births | 17 births | 47 | 39 |
| Births to teens | 1,001 births | 22 births | 41 | 25 |
The proposed reductions are ambitious but attainable during a five to ten year period. This would involve per county only one less infant death, seventeen fewer births of low weight babies, and twenty-two fewer births to teens ages 15-17.
Partnership with March of Dimes and Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
To undertake these challenging goals, South Carolina Kids Count is partnering with the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and with the South Carolina Chapter of the March of Dimes. This partnership combines the South Carolina Kids Count Campaign sponsored by the State Legislature with the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign and the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. These three campaigns engage multiple state and local partners in critical prevention efforts.
The South Carolina Kids Count Campaign, launched through a statewide summit in June of 2002, seeks to improve South Carolina's ranking in the Kids Count Databook released annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. For 2003 the South Carolina Kids Count Campaign has committed to address the three indicators for which our state ranks in the bottom ten: infant mortality, low birthweight, and births to teens.
The partnership of the South Carolina Kids Count Campaign with the March of Dimes and the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will reach out to state and local leaders starting June 16-18, 2003, through leadership summits sponsored by the March of Dimes and the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Partnership Kickoff Events
- June 17: March of Dimes Summit on Premature Birth
- June 16-18: South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Summer Institute
To illustrate the challenge statewide, the What Will It Take To Improve South Carolina's Rankings? table presents the number of deaths, births to teens, dropouts, etc. that would have to be reduced in order for the state to improve our ranking to 39th, 25th, 10th, and 1st in the nation.
To demonstrate the challenge on county-by-county basis, What Will it Take for the County to Reach the National Average? presents the numbers of deaths, births to teens, dropouts, etc. that would need to be reduced in order for each county to be at the national average. Only if every community across our state supports children more effectively can South Carolina catch up with the nation. To make the ranking question pertinent at the local level, What Will it Take for the County to Reach the National Average? also shows what rank the county would be among the 50 states for each of the Kids Count indicators.